Nigeria’s

The wealthiest Nigerian business tycoons—Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and Femi Otedola—are the sole individuals from Nigeria featured on the 2025 ‘Africa’s Billionaires List’ published by Forbes. This list came out on Saturday.

For the 14th successive year, Dangote claimed the top spot with an approximate net worth of $23.9 billion, marking an increase from $13.9 billion the previous year.

The considerable increase in his wealth was mainly because Forbes included the worth of his refinery.

The Dangote Group is active across various industries such as cement, sugar, flour, salt, seasonings, pasta, beverages, real estate, along with ventures in oil & gas and fertilizer production.

In contrast, Adenuga, holding the fifth position, held assets amounting to $6.8 billion within the reviewed timeframe, whereas Rabiu’s wealth stood at $5.1 billion. Adenuga leads the multinational telecom firm Glokcross Africa known as Globacom, and Rabiu heads up BUA Group, which has diversified holdings spanning cement production, sugar refining, petroleum products, and more.

African tycoon and benefactor Otedola rose to become the 16th wealthiest individual on the continent according to the Forbes ranking, marking an increase of more than 30 percent in his fortune over the past year.

According to the recently published list from Forbes, Otedola accumulated a net worth of $1.5 billion within the specified timeframe, positioning him as one of the quickest-rising billionaires globally—just behind Johann Rupert from South Africa, who saw his wealth increase by 39 percent.

A well-known entrepreneur from Nigeria, Otedola has founded and managed multiple firms spanning different industries, each bearing his distinctive mark.

The checks showed that among them were Geregu Power Plc, Nigeria’s inaugural power generation firm to list on the Nigerian Exchange in October 2022, serving as his role as chairman.

Moreover, he holds the position of Chairman at First Holdco Plc, previously known as FBN Holdings Plc. This firm acts as a financial holding corporation overseeing an array of financial service entities such as retail banking, investment banking, stock markets, asset management, and insurance broking operations throughout various parts of Africa.

As an avid philanthropist, Otedola has significantly supported Save the Children, contributing vast sums in naira. His contributions led to him being appointed as a Vice President, acknowledging his dedication towards enhancing the well-being of Nigerian children.

Save the Children is a group dedicated to assisting disadvantaged children across the globe.

“Another billionaire who saw their wealth increase by over 30 percent was Femi Otedola from Nigeria ($1.5 billion), chairperson of publicly traded energy company Geregu Power Plc. The shares of Geregu Power climbed around 40 percent in the last year due to higher revenues and earnings,” according to the Forbes report.

The Forbes ranking monitors the fortunes of African billionaires based in Africa or whose main businesses operate on the continent.

The net worths were determined based on stock prices and currency exchange rates at the end of business on March 7, 2025.

Forbes observed that the shifts in net worth were tracked using their 2024 ranking of African billionaires, released in January 2024. When valuing private enterprises, Forbes begins with revenue or profit estimations and then uses current price-to-sales or price-to-earnings multiples associated with similar publicly traded firms.

The report also noted that Africa’s billionaire collective wealth exceeded $100 billion for the first time, with the total fortune of the continent’s 22 billionaires increasing to $105 billion from $82.4 billion and just 20 billionaires the previous year.

This year, South Africa led the pack with seven billionaires, trailed by Nigeria and Egypt, which each claimed four billionaires.

Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. (
Syndigate.info
).